The area size is 55,284 km² or 21345.272 square miles. Cape Breton Island is joined to the mainland by the Canso Causeway creating a coastline of 7,400 kilometres in length.

The overall length is only 575 kilometres and the average width is 130 kilometres.

One of the four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada

Second smallest province (P.E.I. is the smallest)

Made up of the mainland and Cape Breton Island

Includes over 3800 coastal islands

Halifax is the largest city and Capital city – 403,437 in 2010

Halifax is an international seaport and transportation centre.

The Provincial Flower – the Mayflower

The Provincial Tree -Red Spruce

The Provincial Bird – Osprey

Halifax is closer to Dublin, Ireland than it is to Victoria, British Columbia.

Halifax boasts the second largest ice-free natural harbour in the world after Sydney, Australia.

There are more pubs per capita than any other city in Canada. That might have something to do with the fact below.

There are six-degree granting universities in Halifax – Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Nova Scotia Community College and The Atlantic School of Theology. There are 81 post-secondary students per 1000 people, three times the national average.

The vacated Acadian lands were soon occupied by settlers from New England

French colonists were forced to leave.

Later settlers came from England, Germany, and Scotland.

In 1783 the United Empire Loyalists came from the United States.

In 1784 Nova Scotia was partitioned and the colonies of New Brunswick and Cape Breton Island were created.

In 1820 Cape Breton Island became part of Nova Scotia again.

In 1867 Nova Scotia became a part of the Dominion of Canada.

The Halifax Explosion in 1917 was the world’s largest man-made explosion prior to Hiroshima. About 2000 people were killed and 9000 injured when the SS Mont Blanc, a French cargo ship loaded with wartime explosives collided with an empty Norwegian ship. It caught fire and 25 minutes later exploded. A tsunami and pressure wave also occurred and caused considerable damage.

The Cunard Steamship Line was founded in Halifax in 1840.

The Old Town Clock, a famous landmark, has been keeping time since 1803.

Point Pleasant Park, a 77-hectare park and one of the city’s best, is located on the southern tip of the Halifax Peninsula only 2½ kilometres from downtown. Halifax rents the site from the British government for 10 cents a year and has a 999-year lease.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER

Cool dry air from the interior mixes with warmer wet air over the sea.

Areas along the coast are milder and wetter than the areas inland.

The Atlantic coast is foggy, especially in the spring.

There are heavy rains and stormy weather in the fall.

The province has experienced hurricanes in the late summer.

WATER AND LAND

Most of the province is surrounded by water.

The Atlantic Ocean is to the south and east.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are connected by a small land bridge (28 km Isthmus of Chignecto).

The Bay of Fundy stretches between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The Bay of Fundy has world’s highest tides.

Much of the province is part of the Appalachian Region.

The province is covered with forests and lakes.

There are 3000 small lakes.

Almost 7500 km is rocky coastline.

There are salt marshes and ice-free deep water harbours along the coast.